For an industry that seeks to define itself as something more than a children’s form of mindless entertainment, a segment of its supporters appear to be mindlessly childish. In fact, terrifyingly so.

And this was made ever more apparent when Ninja Theory’s creative chief, Tameem Antoniades, revealed that the studio received death threats over its interpretation of Capcom’s Devil May Cry.

Theory’s take on the Japanese publisher’s demonic brawler has invited a slew of vitriolic reactions. A different developer, a seemingly different protagonist, a different engine, a different framerate—changes that many cite when justifying their anger for the unreleased title.

Yet Devil May Cry still exists. Your favorite white-haired, half-devil, sword-wielding hero hasn’t been consigned to the backwaters of digital exile. His universe hasn’t come to an abrupt end; his white mane on the front of your PlayStation 2 case isn’t going to morph into a spiked tuft of black. Relax. Nothing’s stopping you from playing the games you love.

If Ninja’s Devil simply doesn’t sit well with your notions of what the series should be, simply don’t buy it. The power is in the penny. There’s nothing wrong with voicing your opinions about a game, though. It’s something we all do. Just don’t rage about it when it fails to match your preconceptions and expectations, like a child who didn’t get what they wanted.

Or worse, a gamer who didn’t get what they wanted.

Culture beyond video games has demonstrated that foreign hands on familiar things—Cameron with Aliens, for example—can produce superb results. In the case of Ridley’s brain child, the Terminator director produced a thrilling adaptation of a terrifying concept, without abandoning the tenets of what made it so great.

A new take on an established concept is incredibly exciting. Even if it fails, at least it attempted to escape the pools of creative stagnancy.

And in an industry that prides itself on a unique and innovative ideas, nothing could be worse than not giving it a go.

Personally, I think it’s great that Ninja Theory is developping this game, because so far i’ve loved the storytelling in their games.
Also, the gameplay looks deep enough without beeing too complex for a casual gamer like me
Looking forward to this

gold163

Why did you bring up Alien? Because Ninja Theory’s DMC is pretty much Devil May Cry’s Alien 3. Done by different people, and people are certain not to like it. Also, it might be crap. It doesn’t fit in with expectations for the series’ vision. But then again, Devil May Cry 2-4 were done by different people than the original, and each game has its fans (with the possible exception of 2). But those games were more consistent with the property’s overall aesthetic.

People are angry because Capcom deliberately hired Ninja Theory to mess with Devil May Cry, going so far as to tell them to design something that would make them (and fans of DMC by extension) angry. It’s the same thing they’ve been doing with Resident Evil. And also because a lot of people have the impression that Ninja Theory couldn’t make a good game if they tried.

Now there’s nothing wrong with a series trying something new, but when Capcom deliberately sets out to anger fans, and then the developer (Ninja Theory) specifically admits that the game takes place in a parallel canon to appease those angry fans, it makes the companies look weak, and exposes their true intentions. They’re not doing new things for the sake of doing new things; they’re looking for the fanbase’s breaking point, and trying to stretch their appeal for the sake of a quick buck.

However, there is no reason for death threats. And you’re right, you can go ahead and not buy the game. But people have been doing that for years now with massive, genre-suffocating infectious plague franchises like Call of Duty, and fat lot of good that’s done us, because the majority of the games on the market in that genre still try to ape that game’s market appeal. The truth is, there is no power in the penny. Boycotting a large company is pointless and won’t get you what you want, so of course fans are going to throw a fit because they know there’s nothing they can really do. But then again, they’re not entitled to games either.

It was the same thing with Metroid Other M, and Splinter Cell Conviction. The people I saw defending Conviction weren’t even fans of Splinter Cell, and argued that breaking away from everything that made that series unique was a good thing because they didn’t like Splinter Cell. Asking someone who likes the original Splinter Cells better to not be pissed off at that point is an exercise in futility. It’s largely the same here. A lot of people defending Ninja Theory’s DMC are people who hate or never played Devil May Cry anyway.

You can make the point of defending creativity in games as a medium but that point is moot when we all know that the game is going to play largely similarly to previous installments and only looks different.

Adam Meadows

I honestly don’t think they’ve set out to anger fans. I could see how they are trying to expand the franchise’s appeal, though.

But isn’t that natural? If your IP is selling say, 2 million copies now, it would have to sell a considerable amount more next-gen to be worth the effort, surely?

I used Aliens as example merely because it’s a potent example of how somebody else can take another’s work and do it just as well, if not better. There’s aliens 3, just as there is terminator 3 and beyond. To many then I imagine that it’s a question of whether NT is a Cameron or a Fincher.

Awesome comment by the way!

gold163

@Adam Meadows: You’re probably right that they didn’t set out to anger fans, but I do recall Ninja Theory saying that Capcom approached them and asked them to redesign Dante in a way that would make them angry. And if that’s the case, how could fans not be angry at the result?

There’s nothing wrong with expanding market appeal per se, but at some point you begin to lose what made your game/property appealing to your fans in the first place. There is also the issue of designing your game to appeal to the least common denominator as a result of its popularity. Basically, don’t forget where you came from. There are always going to be fans concerned about that, even if you try to do exactly what they want.

Adam Meadows

Yeah. A ‘let’s piss you off to pull you in’ approach. The fact that there’s such vitriol towards a game people have not played, such apparent hatred, is what’s so ridiculous.

You’re right to extent that, without the fans so far, the new DmC may not exist. At the same time, though, I’d be curious to see how it pans out. I’m a big HALO fan, and look forward to see how 343 handles it.

In a sense, Capcom can simply ‘yank’ DMC back should it fail. Microsoft and 343, really, can’t do such a thing.

If people are upset, they should take solace in the fact that this isn’t Capcom’s mainline direction, but somebody else’s.

Sal Romano

@gold163: They didn’t say, “Hey, make a design that’ll piss off the fans.”

Ninja Theory’s Nina Kristensen: “The concepts for Dante went through a lot of different iterations – they went all over the place – we went really far out with some. The first time we sent our initial concepts to Capcom Japan, they said no, no you need to push it way further.

“Because, obviously, Dante is a big character for Capcom, we stuck fairly close to the original design template. But Japan said we needed to go much further, go crazy with it, and so we did.”

gold163

@Sal Romano: I could have sworn the language they used was harsher than that, but now I conveniently cannot find the quote I was thinking of. Great.

At the least, we can see that Capcom wanted a “knee-jerk reaction” from fans to raise awareness of the new game. And it worked. But if Capcom was so confident in Ninja Theory’s creativity, why didn’t they just stick to their guns and say, “no, this is going to be Dante’s origin story” (disregarding that he already has one), instead of, “hey guys it takes place in a parallel universe and stuff, please don’t be mad at us ok?”

Trying something new is one thing, second guessing yourself because of the fans is another. Because of that, I don’t think Capcom and Ninja Theory deserve any sympathy. They got the initial marketing push they wanted from the controversy, after all. The fan backlash is an expected consequence. You reap what you sow. Now it’s just up to the game to prove itself.

EDIT: found it. There’s probably some extrapolation being done on my part to make my point, but the quote exists:

“… And we’re like, ‘No, seriously! Do something that you think would make us angry with you,’ and that’s when we started making progress.”

Not as bad as I remembered it to be.

Valmaton

All the companies should do this every once in a while, mess up established franchises a little bit to try new things, improve and so on (not like RE though) . Unless you are a die hard fan of DMC previous installments, this game looks reasonable appealing to casual gamers, still, not a day 1 purchase for me.

LordKaiser

This is similar to Breath of Fire 5 and Chrono Cross where changes are to drastic to be accepted. In the case of Devil may Cry it’s not just about the the combos and gameplay but the cocky Dante humiliating and making jokes about he’s enemies.This dante is seen as a bastard who gets hates and angry easily while the old one used humor to taunt he’s enemies.

thunderbear

Great article, I agree with you completely and these are my same thoughts on a variety of game related subjects when you scour the gaming forums. It’s why I don’t partake anymore.

http://www.youtube.com/tezchi TezChi

I agree with the sentiment of the article, and as thunderbear says before me, that type of behaviour is what keeps me away from the majority of Internet discussions and forums (and not just gaming ones, I might add).

Then again, as I love to say on a regular basis – “You can lead morons to facts, but you can’t make them think.”

By the way, just a heads up on the first sentence, it doesn’t read well for some reason. “more than a children’s form mindless entertainment and, a segment of…”. Not a biggy.

Thanks. Can’t believe I missed that. Must’ve been a hang over from an old edit. Didn’t make sense.

FAUNA

It’s funny because people complain when something stays the same forever, & then when they try to change it, everyone flips out because its not the way it used to be. Everything should be constantly evolving with fresh creativity. With that said, ALL JAPANESE GAMES SHOULD BE DEVELOPED IN JAPAN. I play Japanese IP BECAUSE it is Japanese. Yet, out of all the western developers to choose from, NINJA THEORY is simply the best possible choice. They are truly masters of their craft when when it comes to style, art/design/aesthetic (TALEXI is a visionary genius), characters, story/cinematics, voicework, music, gameplay, worlds, etc. The concept of them ctreating DMC is straight up f#@king cool!. I’m completely stoked for their iteration. The creature design & morphing surreal environments are seriously awesome. I hope Nitihn Sawhney is scoring. & I DO WISH IT WAS 60 FPS THOUGH.. Anyways, thank you for this article. Everyone will see how amazing DMC is when it is in their hands, I mean, don’t jump to conclusions people from just a few screenshots/trailers. I simply can’t wait for another NINJA THEORY masterwork / gothic dark fantasy adventue. I’m there day one. Special Edition please!

Zero

This is a great article. So many gamers in this generation want to judge a new game or idea before they even play it. (Or give it a chance, etc.)

I’ve asked lots of Devil May Cry fans, What if they allowed you to download a character skin from the start to make Dante look like the old Dante.

To my surprise, a good majority of people said they might be more willing to give the game a chance if that was the case.

And about the death threats, all i can say is… for real? Whoever was responsible for those is a very disturbed individual, or just someone trying to be funny that failed miserably.

I refuse to think we as gamers have stooped that low, to do something like that… come on, some might be upset but we are way better than that.

Please stop saying, the anger is limited on the protagonist. Countless elements have been thoroughly criticized throughout the months.

For example, when on earth did DMC have such platform styled gameplay ? Better, let me rephrase, does the gameplay look more like DMC or Enslaved to you ? So no Devil May Cry doesn’t still exist. A GOW meets Enslaved with a lot of Linkin Park sentiment hybrid took it’s place.

The most abrupt case of westernization is not ” innovative”, it’s sell out to sell.

And the most important thing is that im not a child that won’t get what i want: I am the consumer who made the franchise a big name, a big name they are exploiting for the sole reason of more sales than DMC 4. Fact.

Everyone who even remotely liked the the original Devil May Cry series, buy this and kiss any hopes of a real DMC goodbye.

Yakuza is a brawler. To my mind, correct me if im wrong, you intentionally used the more general term to include the transforming DmC gameplay.

And again you made a general mention of points (fps, engine etc), presenting them as if they are new tools for approaching the same recipe, which is not the case.

And I said that since your most, allow me to say, caustic comment is “seemingly different protagonist”. Even if this “Dante” needs to pass through puberty for some reason, it’s still the distorted, westernized take on things since so far he has shown zero connection to Dante. Various anime series are an excellent example of character progression throughout their life span. They know how to do coherent. NT are simply using the name of Dante as a vessel to materialize their own ideas.

gold163

@Gaara D. Dragon: Genre tags exist to allow us to distinguish and compare games that share common elements; however, we should not allow our games to be defined by them. One man’s “brawler” is another’s “action game” is another man’s “hack ‘n slash”. More and to the point, “action” is an extremely vague genre that does not necessarily denote the presence or usage of certain gameplay tropes.

That being said, I feel similarly towards the westernization of Devil May Cry, and quite frankly I wish Japanese companies would stop outsourcing popular IPs to western companies just to fulfill the need to appeal to a western audience. Instead, they should just concentrate on making a good game to the best of their own ability. This whole, “we need to be more like western game developers” is only because of a couple of extremely popular western properties that are the minority even in western development. In the end the most driving factor isn’t the need to create a good game, or the desire to be truly creative; it’s to push as many numbers as their western counterparts to a larger demographic (and subsequently, more often than not a lesser common denominator).

Don’t patronize me please ! “skill based, faced paced, stylish action game” is pretty damn specific and for many years “brawler” has been used to describe games like Yakuza.

The term was used in the article as an attempt to generalize what the DMC gameplay is and thusly let DmC sneak in as if it belongs to the series.

The gameplay of DMC games is something VERY damn specific. It’s the ID of the series. That is NOT Devil may Cry. I understand people liked Enslaved and NT but I am sorry they dropped the ball, that is not Devil may Cry.

gold163

@Gaara D. Dragon: @Gaara D. Dragon: He used the term “brawler” ONCE in the entire article. Yes, Devil May Cry’s gameplay is specific, but my point is that the term “action” is not, and adding “stylish” as a prefix doesn’t make it any more specific.

And while Devil May Cry’s gameplay is specific, that does not mean it has the entire genre to itself. Many people consider games such as God of War, Ninja Gaiden, etc. to be similar enough to Devil May Cry to put them in the same category. A minor focus on platforming is not enough to distinguish between those games in my opinion; Devil May Cry’s unique elements are enough to give the series its own identity but I don’t think that means it get to be excluded from any genre because of it.

I’m not patronizing you. I don’t like the direction DmC’s gameplay is taking either, but the article isn’t trying to generalize Devil May Cry or say, “the new one is the same as the old ones.” Adam openly admits that DmC is different; he just wants to point out the fan reaction is getting over the top. And I agree. Death threats? Really?

Part of me believes that it’s this intense, irrational and ludicrously angry fan reaction that leads people to defend DmC, just for the sake of balance. Because we all know and acknowledge that it’s not what fans want, but the absurd reactions are unnecessary and tiring.

rockman29

@Adam Meadows: I don’t think you know what you’re talking about dude. Have you seen a real Devil May Cry fan play the game? It’s not a brawler. It’s not Streets of Rage. That’s absurd.

ruslik

I’ve played all of DMC games and loved them all(yes, including DMC2). I’ve been a fan of the series from the start. But when I heard that Ninja Theory is in charge of the next game in the series, I was ecstatic. They make quality games that focus on story telling and character development (plus awesome graphics, beautiful character and set design, great music, you know stuff like that).

I just don’t get why people are so upset. DMC4 had Nero, who is like a copy of a younger Dante and nobody was angry with that. Basically we were playing with two different characters that looked essentially the same without any explanation and people were ok with that. And now that Dante has a different hair color people are sending death threats. So what they are saying is that Dante’s just a guy with white hair and a red coat.

DrForbidden

@ruslik: No, you are missing the point entirely. If Dante was just a white-haired guy in a coat, nobody would care. The point is that this alternate Dante has none of the charm, personality, and cool of original Dante, and many fans are angered by this. If you even played DMC4, you’d know that Nero’s personality was nothing like Dante’s, and that was the whole point. He WASN’T Dante. He can never replace Dante, which is what this DMC game is attempting to do, at least for the duration of the game: replace the Dante we know and love with something reviled.

ruslik

@DrForbidden: The point I was trying to make was that Dante is NOT just about his hair or the red coat, it’s his personality. Nero and Dante are different, even though they looked the same. So if we are willing to tolerate two people that look the same, we can let Dante have a different exterior, as long as he has the same personality. You and I both agree on this I think, and what upsets you is that you feel they’ve changed that. I’ve seen most of the trailers for this game and I think it’s too early to say that “this alternate Dante has none of the charm, personality, and cool of original Dante”. Both Dante’s are cocky, both have style, charm and coolness that suits their respective ages. And after I play the game I’ll be able to determine if this new Dante can grow up to be the original.

gold163

@ruslik: The issue with Nero was different, because people were certain that they would be able to play as Dante later on in the game. And when all was said and done, DMC4 was still similar enough to the previous installment to appease hardcore fans of the series. Furthermore, Nero is not Dante, and that was clear from the start, so it was acceptable that he would have a different personality and play style. They’re telling us this new guy is Dante, but so far he has exhibited none of the traits that fans have come to know that character for. If anything, Ninja Theory and Capcom are the ones minimizing Dante into an icon instead of an actual character.

I agree the hate/skepticism is blowing things out of proportion, but at the same time that doesn’t mean none of it is justified. And for fuck’s sake people, Devil May Cry 2 wasn’t that bad.

DrForbidden

gold163 and Gaara D. Dragon have already articulated my feelings on this issue much more eloquently than I possibly could, so I have very little to add.

I will say, however, that it’s rather obnoxious to suggest that fans do not have the right to feel upset, to complain or to rage about the issue. I’ll just point out first that making death threats are extreme and immature, and I do not condone such behaviour in the least.

I find the following two sentences: “There’s nothing wrong with voicing your opinions about a game, though.” and “Just don’t rage about it when it fails to match your preconceptions and expectations, like a child who didn’t get what they wanted.” to be partly contradictory. ‘Raging about it’ is, in a sense, a form of voicing out opinion. As long as certain boundaries are not crossed, such as threats of physical violence, I believe that people should be entitled to complian they way they want to. Yes, you would be correct in saying that ‘raging’ does not help in any way, but the internet age gives the means to voice out opinions to everyone with a connection, including the less mature and articulate members of society. Whether this is an achievement or a tragedy is out of place to discuss here.

And finally, I’d like to ask: what is ‘acceptable’ in terms of innovation and ‘re-interpretation’? Would it be ‘acceptable’ for Marvel Comics to reveal that Spider-Man was actually homosexual all along? Or what if it was revealed in a new Bond film that 007 was actually a deep undercover muslim extremist loyal to the jihadist cause? Now, I’m not saying the creators or copyright holders of fictional characters can’t do whatever they want with the characters (or that there is anything wrong with homosexuality; it was just an example as Peter Parker’s relationship with Mary-Jane Waston and Gwen Stacy are among the things that define his character), but should anyone really be surprised at the amount of vitriol that would result when a beloved character’s core is mangled to an unrecognisable degree in the name of selling yet another product?

rockman29

“I will say, however, that it’s rather obnoxious to suggest that fans do not have the right to feel upset, to complain or to rage about the issue. I’ll just point out first that making death threats are extreme and immature, and I do not condone such behaviour in the least.”

This.

Stop apologizing for the developers. Stop apologizing for their decisions. Don’t turn Gematsu into a horn to toot these kind of feelings.

Don’t tell other people how to feel. That’s dangerous. That’s worse than having a completely disagreeable and baseless and uninformed opinion.

If a developer’s game sells millions despite a harsh critical reception from people, which do you honestly think has the most power to make changes?

How am I apologizing for developers? We’ve never played the game. I’m just stunned by such a negative reaction to a game people have yet to play.

Disliking something is vastly different to raging, isn’t it? One person might simply say ‘I don’t like it, here’s why’. Others will and have produce statements like, ‘F*** Capcom’ and the likes. Or death threats over a video game. Now that’s sad.

Why not give it a chance? Is what say.

Thanks for your comments.

rockman29

@Adam Meadows: I’m sorry I’m being so frank in my comments, but it’s simply because I don’t have time to write them.

I’ll be upfront. There are many second-rate blogs around (Gematsu is not one of them, you guys are doing a great job with this site, it’s really amazing) where authors are way in over their heads when they decide to do editorials. They come across a lot like this article. This article is filled with generic statements about how people should approach videogames.

But an article about such a specific subject should be just that: specific. Investigative. Explain why. Make sure you know the subject better than others. Frankly, I’m not convinced you know Devil May Cry even better than myself, but definitely not about mechanics better than some people I know who are truly serious about Devil May Cry and really love the series in and out.

You haven’t looked into this series enough to make commentary like this. This article reads like an extended blanket statement. It’s a surface analysis and superfluous. You aren’t telling people why they shouldn’t be worried about Devil May Cry and you aren’t even appeasing them. You are telling them what you want them to feel, and that’s not good enough.

If you really want to get better at creative writing, you will have to read more than you write. Head to the New York Times and RockPaperShotgun (PC Gaming news) if you want to get an idea of how to convey your thoughts in a more organized fashion without becoming accusatory. Most importantly, you have to know more than us. You have to exact why Devil May Cry isn’t just an action game to a science before you can make this argument. I don’t even know that, and it’s why I wouldn’t even bother telling anyone else how to look at this new game, though I have my own opinion.

rockman29

@rockman29: Oh and one thing I forgot. You can’t use examples when they are completely irrelevant to the topic. That’s not what citations and references are for.

Sal Romano

Thought I’d step in and share my thoughts on this, since it’s gotten so much reception.

For one, I think it’s a very well written article, and one that many people are misinterpreting for something more than it is. This editorial is meant to be a response to the recent news that Ninja Theory received death threats over DmC Devil May Cry. Adam made that clear to me when writing it.

“There’s nothing wrong with voicing your opinions about a game, though.” That’s true, as long as it’s voiced in a sane, nonbelligerent fashion.

“Just don’t rage about it when it fails to match your preconceptions and expectations, like a child who didn’t get what they wanted.” There’s nothing wrong with this statement. If the game comes out, and you don’t like it, don’t flip out – just don’t support it. “The power is in the penny,” Adam writes. As sad as some may think it be, it’s true. Don’t buy the game, and perhaps Capcom will see they went wrong with their new approach. Let it be a lesson to them, then. ‘Guess we won’t have Ninja Theory make any more Devil May Cry games,’ they’d say. Or ‘Looks like we’ll go back to classic Dante.’

Or maybe it’ll go otherwise. Maybe it’ll sell millions and review splendidly. Then, hey, maybe it’ll end up a suitable Devil May Cry, after all. Fact is, right now, all of you don’t know, I don’t know, and Adam doesn’t know. Because none of us have played the game.

I always say, wait until you play a game before you pin a verdict on it. There’s still so much about it hidden in the fog.

P.S. As for the “brawler” concerns – I doubt Adam tried to intentionally generalize it. That’s a bit conspiring, no? I can easily see people classifying Devil May Cry a “demonic brawler,” long-time fan of the series, or not.

Zero

This quickly turned into one of those, let’s quote people and blow every little thing they say out of proportion, then let’s take it out of context and argue about it.

Someone tell me, what good does this do? I see people reaching out and grabbing “facts” about the game out of mid air and trying to use them.

Are you part of the team at Capcom and NT working on the game?

Everyone has the right to an opinion, and some of us want to wait and decide what our opinion is after we play the game.

Some don’t, and I while I think that it is silly to label something a failure before you even give it a chance, you are free to feel that way.

DrForbidden

@Zero: While it’s true that we should give chances, this would only matter in the matter we are speaking about if gameplay is the only thing that matters. To me, at least, the story, plot, graphics, and characters all play their part in whether I enjoy a game, in addition to the gameplay.

Speaking for myself, what I have seen and read of DMC is sacrilegeous. Just as I don’t need to give AIDS a chance to know that it will kill me horribly, I don’t need to give DMC any more chances to know that I despise everything about this alternate universe Dante, regardless of how well the game itself plays. There are games where only the gameplay itself matters in terms of enjoyment, but I do not believe the Devil May Cry franchise is one. Yes, DMC might turn out to be completely brilliant in gameplay, but that means absolutely nothing to me if I can’t stand the other components of the product.

And finally, I’d just like to add that for commercial video games, boycotting a game and giving the game a chance tend to be mutually-exclusive. In order to play it before judging it, you have to buy it. Once you’ve bought it, you can’t go back and unbuy it even if you absolutely hated it. You’ve just ended up supporting a product that you do not believe deserves to be supported. (And before anyone asks, video games rental facilities are uncommon outside of the US and some European countries.) To be fair, that is the risks that legitimate gamers have to take whenever they purchase a game. You might spend $60 that you regret, $60 that could have been used to support more deserving developers. This is all the more reason why choices have to be made without actually having played the game.

Zero

@DrForbidden

Some parts of your response I can understand.

The things about AIDS, not so much. How is that even a relevant comparison?

You know, it was just a very poor choice of words then, I’ll leave it at that.

Man…

To be honest with everyone that has commented in this thread, I read some of these comments and just start shaking my head.

I was going to try and continue the discussion, but I decided not to.

People are not discussing anything here anymore. I could say, hey, this is actually an origin story of Dante.

I could say, this is not a reboot, and we only know a very little about the actual plot.

I could say, maybe this isn’t even the same Dante?

I could try and make other points and say, let’s give it a chance and see how the game turns out.

Why bother? If I’m not on the game is gonna suck bandwagon, then my opinion is equivalent to a pile of crap…

http://www.espadakiller.wordpress.com EspadaKiller

I am still not accepting this game though. I will definitely see this game gonna fail, and like really really BAD. I guess Capcom can’t do anything about it since the contract has been signed and it’s a multimillion project. But i guess they will develop the next true DMC game, aka DMC 5 with Dante back as a main character. Heck, even Nero is a failure too.

And Adam, I don’t really agree with your idea on the creativity part. Yes the game industry should be creative, and be daring to try a new direction. But let’s say they develop this game for 2 years, and fail. So we gamers have to wait for another god knows how many years for the true next DMC game? Isn’t that being unfair to the loyal fans which followed this mega franchise for such a long time?

The problem with this game is, whenever i look at this game, i will somehow RAGE, even though i know that i am still gonna buy it (I love action games). Not because the gameplay is not good, to be frank, from the gameplay videos the gameplay looks really good. But because of another main character which disgustingly uses the name Dante and by Capcom passing on one of their most beloved franchise to out of all game developers, Ninja Theory to “reboot” the entire series. Where it doesn’t even freaking need a reboot. It just doesn’t make any sense!!!

And when finally the shit hits the fan, Capcom got so worried about it, and said that this Dante is from another universe. I seriously LOL-ed at that.

Valmaton

If the fan base is serious about not liking this, then don’t buy it. However, I still think that casual players will pick this game up.

Franchises get rebooted, everything changes, thats life man.. and most importantly, it’s just a game.

gold163

@Valmaton: Feelings of fan abandonment can be particularly strong though. It sucks to have something you know and recognize turned into something else. You lose one thing to relate to since it loses relevance, and there’s the fear that something great might get buried underneath what’s new. Nobody likes that. To many of us, it’s not just a game.

Valmaton

@gold163: I can relate, been there myself with other games, but what experience tells me about games is just like you phrased it; “Many great things have been buried under new things” some bad, some good I might add. That said, I do hope that the fan base will get to see the old Dante again someday.

TerrenceG9

So much rage.

http://www.di.fm Spicy Chicken

@TerrenceG9: Indeed! @_@
I personally hate the new look, but the irony of this article is that I already went to the extreme, and it’s SO nice to have a brand new trusty PS2 on my desk. Currently revisiting Capcom Vs. SNK 2 actually, great stuff. ^_^ Although I have been raging still occasionally, but that’s more due to the cheapness of Shin Gouki and G. Rugal! :P

But I digress… the article is good in some ways, but there’s one thing I’ve said before and I’ll repeat myself somewhat again, new ideas are always welcome, always, but why use a pre-existing character if you truly want to do something new for the sake of it? I’m sorry, but from my experience of (and in) advertising I can tell you right now things like this have NOTHING to do with creativity, and everything to do with the lure of the license/brand, in this case, the brand/name of DMC and Dante himself. It’s really just a cheap tactic to guarantee attention for what SHOULD be a brand new title. (Hello Ridge Racer: Unbounded)

And, just to really mix things up, remember Devil May Cry’s origin? It was going to be a Resident Evil game, originally, but the creators decided to do something DIFFERENT, and they actually followed through with a new IP. You see that? It was different! REALLY different. I’ll give you another example. I want to create a brand new car, unlike anything the world has seen yet. So, do I go all the way, set up a new, untested brand and company? Or do I simply sell the idea to an existing company, call it the Corvette XL and hope no-one notices it’s really not a Corvette. It might be a good car, feck, it might be a GREAT car, but it’s not a Corvette, so why call it one? One word, marketing. (Bad example as I doubt/hope Chevrolet would ever do anything so stupid, but then again…)

I get it, I do, and Capcom certainly aren’t the only developer guilty of this, but still, it’s a cheap move and they know it, any way you cut it. You want brave, creative, pioneering artistry? Here’s a thought, why not use a brand new character rather than rebooting an old one? Why not create a NEW story instead of ruining an already established one? If George Lucas was really THAT sure of the idea of Extra-Dimensionals etc. then why not create a brand new set of characters instead of ruining the legacy of the previously untouchable Indian Jones series?
One word… money. Well, in that case money and a certain amount of ego.

Anyway, the death threats are silly indeed, stupid even, but then, we live in a culture where popstars are given more attention by many people than the politicians and current affairs that shape the very world we live in. A world where, don’t forget, imbeciles like Newt Gingrich want to see poor children cleaning toilets to pay their way through school, instead of the government funding basic education. So, whilst I wish I was surprised by the messed up priorities of such people, I’m not. Sending death threats on behalf of a non-existent character is pretty low, but Newt Gingrich is lower, and he’s a Presidential Candidate. >_>

But that aside, the argument that ‘A new take on an established concept is incredibly exciting…’ is a good one as far as it goes, and I respect it. However, I would add the qualifier ‘…if pursued for the right reasons.’ And I think, the one crucial element missing from your article is that it’s more the motivations behind this ‘reboot’ that have fans up in arms, as opposed to the reboot itself. That’s where I disagree fundamentally with your viewpoint, as changing something as already well established as Dante simply for the sake of it just seems odd, and doing it to make him more ‘relevant’ to a new audience just smacks of desperation. But maybe that’s it, as others have theorized previously, this is just Capcom showing their desperation to ‘keep up with the neighbors’.

Far from being terrible, I think the game has many promising elements, but the cynicism behind it’s conception puts me off completely. My youngest brother has already resolved to get it for his 360 though (even though he too has mixed feelings about the reboot), so I’ll get to see how it plays first hand.

Either way, from a market/audience point of view, it’ll be fascinating to see how badly/well this game does.

http://www.di.fm Spicy Chicken

@Spicy Chicken: That was supposed to be INDIANA Jones obviously, freaking typos… >_>

Gaara D. Dragon

“Why not give it a chance? Is what say.”

Cause, Adam, as I said, this is not another spin off case, this is the most eye bulging case of exploitation of an established name in the history of video games, it has been analyzed to death.